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In the summer of 2017, Donald Trump appeared in front of an adoring crowd in Youngstown, Ohio, to hail how his administration had delivered on its promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to the state.

“Let me tell you folks in Ohio and in this area, don’t sell your house. We’re going to get those jobs coming back, and we’re going to fill up those factories or rip them down and build brand new ones. It’s going to happen,” he said.

It now looks as if his optimism was misplaced after General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra announced that the carmaker was mothballing its plant in Lordstown – about 17 miles away from Youngstown – and laying off more than 1,400 workers.